‘Jota will be missed on so many levels’
I have started the new season by sitting on my glasses so anything could appear on this blog this evening. Anyway, A sense of anticipation hangs over Anfield not only because of the return to action of the Premier League champions but also because for many supporters this is an opportunity to pay respects to the late Diogo Jota and indeed his family who are here tonight.
As Jurgen Klopp said, football is the most important of all the unimportant things in life and maybe that’s a decent thought with which to begin what is sure to be an emotional evening. Jota was a lovely player, by the way. He really was. He will be missed here on so many levels.
Leoni arrives at Anfield
Oh, look who is here.
A few hours ago (or maybe yesterday in all honesty), Giovanni Leoni was signing on the dotted line for Liverpool, and now he is already at Anfield.
Drink it all in, son, you’ll be flying into tackles on that carpet in absolutely no time.
Iraola: ‘Exciting challenge’
Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth manager, on Sky Sports:
It’s challenging and it is exciting to play a part in this game, everyone will be looking at this game and for the players they should be ready to give a good performance and start strongly.
We played quite well against them last season, but it was not enough. You can play well and you have to have some minimums, but after that you have to be very good in both boxes, and they normally are.
We hope we get ourselves a chance today with the performance and then we hope we punish them when it matters.
Doak closes in on Cherries
I’ll tell you what, it’s been a big day for transfers.
Liverpool have signed somebody, but not only that, they are close to letting one young fella go to the team they are playing today.
Ben Doak is reportedly closing in on a £25m move to Bournemouth, and that’s why he is not on the Liverpool bench tonight.
Now, I’m surprised that the Reds are letting him go, I have to say.
Don’t get me wrong, that amount of money for a lad who has only played 10 senior games for the club is obviously incredible business.
But still, Doak has the potential to be a very, very good player, and you’d think that Slot would want him to grow at Anfield.
It seems he is off to the Cherries, though.
Kerkez faces former side
Well, this must feel weird for Milos Kerkez.
Only three months ago, teh Hungarian was donning the black and red stripes of Bournemouth week in, week out.
Now, in his first Premier League appearance for his new club Liverpool, he has to face his old friends.
Obviously, he knew he had to do it at some point, but straight away? Yikes.
I’m sure it won’t stop him snapping into tackles, mind. He just loves it too much.
‘Liverpool need to kick on’
Gary Neville, former Manchester United defender, on Sky Sports:
Liverpool did their best business last summer by not signing anyone. But they bedded the manager, kept the squad consistent and now have gone it for this summer. They will be thinking we can win the league again.
This is now a time for Liverpool to really kick on, they are massive favourites and they should feel strength in that rather than pressure.
Kerkez: ‘Good to see familiar faces’
Milos Kerkez, Liverpool defender, speaking to Sky Sports:
It’s really exciting [to make his debut against former club Bournemouth], it is nice to see all the lads again. At the beginning of the season it is important to start well and it will be good to see familiar faces again.
We have corrected the mistakes we made in the last game, the Community Shield, and today we want to show we are capable of everything. We want to win.
Every club was active in the market, everyone was taking players, so this year there is going to be a lot of competition. And obviously everyone wants to beat the champions, but we are Liverpool and we are ready for the challenge.
Slot: ‘We have brought in special players’
Arne Slot, Liverpool boss, speaking to Sky Sports:
A lot of players go at a club like this and it is normal to replace them, or we would use the U18 today, which would not be smart. We lost many so we brought in many. Of course, we have lost a few very good players but the ones we have brought in are special as well.
On defensive troubles:
If you look at the facts, what you are saying is true. In general don’t think we concede many chances, but the ones we do concede are goals. We did concede more goals in pre-season almost than we did in the whole of last season.
On his squad coping with Jota’s death:
The squad is far better than I expected five or six weeks ago. At the moment in time you feel, will it ever be possible to play again or will it ever be possible to get them going again? But as I said many times they have conducted themselves so, so well in that period of time, when we first heard the news [about Diogo Jota’s death] and afterwards.
On both sides they were great. As human beings but they also understood that they needed to be professional footballers again so we had to work hard, and that is what they started doing.
Cherries seek rare back-to-back
This stat has stunned me, I can’t lie.
When I think of Bournemouth’s 2024-25 campaign, I think about how brilliant it was, don’t you?
Sure, they had a slight dip in former in the back half of the season, but even then they finished ninth.
But it seems it was more than a dip…
Bournemouth won 2-0 against Leicester in their final game of 2024-25, but haven’t won consecutive Premier League matches since January.
Can they break that eight-month run at Anfield?
If they do, that really would be a turn-up for the books.
‘Ngumoha is uber-talented’
Freddy Adu, former boy wonder, speaking to Social Casino:
So I didn’t know much about him as a player until I heard about him because of the game against Athletic Bilbao. But for him to be able to do that at the age of 16, that’s impressive.
For any 16-year-old to do that, that’s not by accident, especially doing it for a club like Liverpool. That’s not by accident. For you to be able to do that at that age, you clearly have to be uber talented and for him, I would say the same thing as I would say for Yamal – just keep the main thing, the main thing.
Keep it about football. Don’t make it about anything else. People are going to sing your praises when you do well, and the same people are going to just pile on you when you’re not doing well. So you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low, you gotta sort of keep an even keel. Keep your head down, keep doing exactly what you were doing that got you to where you are.
Rio to get minutes?
Do you want to know who I am hopeful of seeing tonight?
Young Rio Ngumoha.
I honestly still can’t get over the fact that the lad is just 16 years old, like, that is silly. He plays like a man in his late 20s.
Last time he was here at Anfield, he buried the ball into teh corner of teh net at the Kop after just two minutes, but today he will have to start the night on the bench.
Hopefully, he gets a run out at some point.
‘Excited to see Ekitike’
The team is pretty much as we expected and the only real concern is the midfield: Ryan Gravenberch is missing through suspension and Alexis Mac Allister is not fully fit. It is a big boost to have him back, though.
I am excited to watch Hugo Ekitike again, he was brilliant at Wembley last week when I was sat alongside our finest blogman, Harry…
Oh, you’re too kind to me Lewis 🙂
‘Forever 20’
What a beautiful mural this is.
Diogo Jota has been immortalised as Liverpool’s number 20, with the club retiring his shirt number following his death – a classy move.
And now ‘Forever 20’ has been painted on a house near Anfield, with fans writing messages of love to the late striker.
Incredibly moving.
Emotional night
This is going to be a night filled with emotion for Liverpool fans, no matter what happens.
This is the first Premier League game at Anfield since the death of Diogo Jota last month.
Time may be moving on, but he will never be forgotten.
I have seen plenty of ‘Diogo J. 20’ Liverpool shirts kicking about Anfield, and many fans are paying their respects outside of the ground.
I’m just hopeful that the minute’s silence isn’t ruined today.
Good omens for Liverpool
If I were a Liverpool fan, I would be rather confident right now.
Not just because of the players that they have in their line-up, who are frankly ridiculously good, but because history is on their side heading into this game.
Liverpool haven’t lost their opening league game in any of the last 12 seasons (W9 D3), since a 3-0 loss at West Brom in 2012-13. It’s the longest current run without defeat on MD1 of any Premier League side.
Also, in 33 previous Premier League campaigns, the reigning champions have lost their opening match of the season on just three occasions.
So yeah, all reasons to be positive for the Reds. Or have I just done a classic Harry move and jinxed them?
I guess we will have to wait and see.
Bournemouth Team News – Diakite DEBUTS
Better late than never, eh?
Bournemouth have finally released their team news, and there is one name on it we have to talk about: Bafode Diakite.
The £34m signing makes his debut in a very different-looking Bournemouth backline.
Djordje Petrovic also makes his first competitive start in goal.
‘Liverpool’s squad is stronger’
Jamie Carragher, former Liverpool defender, on Sky Sports:
There is doubt that the squad is much stronger than it was last season. We could see that in the teams that the manager picked. I envisage a much tighter title race this season.
300 up for Ali
Wow, that’s a lot of games.
I somehow forgot just how long Alisson has been at Liverpool, but well, I have just been reminded that it’s a very long time.
Tonight he is set to make his 300th appearance in between teh sticks for the Reds. For somebody who seems to get injured a lot for a goalkeeper, that’s not bad going for seven years of service.
Can he mark it with a clean sheet?
New kid on the block
Right, we have to talk about this lad.
We all know that Liverpool have been busy boys in this transfer window, but somehow they are still dipping deeper into their pockets.
And no, they haven’t signed Alexander Isak.
However, they have signed 18-year-old centre-half Giovanni Leoni from Parma for an initial £26m.
Everybody that I have spoken to who knows about this kid has called him a baller. So yep, a very good deal, it seems.
As you can see, he isn’t eligible to play as of today, but he should be back for their game with Newcastle next weekend.
Liverpool Team News – Mac Allister STARTS
Jeeeez, what a team that is.
Arne Slot has made just one change from the team that lost teh Community Shield last week, with Alexis Mac Allister replacing Curtis Jones.
We are all in for a treat this evening as Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike will be blessing our screens again. Exciting.
The new look Reds on point.
Gravenberch suspended
When the team news comes out in a couple of minute’s you will notice on big absentee from Liverpool’s line-up.
Ryan Gravenberch is not available.
Why is that? Well, in teh final game of last season against Crystal Palace, he was a silly billy and only went and got himself sent off.
Suspensions carry over even if it’s the last game of the season, so he is not allowed to play for the Reds.
A big blow in midfield.
‘Jota’s family present’
Hello all and welcome to Anfield where it promises to be an exciting game as the champions begin their title defence against one of the unknown quantities of this new season in Bournemouth.
But before all that, it will be a sad event as there will be tributes for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva who died in a car crash last month. Their family will be present.
There will be a minute’s silence, black armbands and a mosaic – plus surely lots of renditions of the ‘oh his name is Diogo’ chant.
Iraola: ‘Let’s try surprise them’
Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth boss, speaking on Thursday:
We are the first game and a lot of people will be watching us. It’s not the place you want to start your season, at the home of the champions. Also after they lost the other day [in the Community Shield] despite controlling and they probably want a reaction.
It’s a big test for us and in the beginning it’s going to be emotional with the passing of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. But we will focus on our job, try and create some chances, keep believing and give them a hard game. Let’s try to go there and give them a surprise.
Can Cherries upset the champs?
Bournemouth have the potential to cause chaos tonight.
I have spoken to a silly amount of people about this game, and I don’t think a single one has given Bournemouth a sniff of a point.
I know Liverpool are the champs, but come on, the Cherries are no slouch.
That being said, obviously their backline has been decimated, with Milos Kerkez one of the many to depart – he will no doubt be playing against them today.
But they still have some top players, and more importantly, Andoni Iraola is still at the wheel.
Can they make this an awkward start for Liverpool?
Slot: ‘It’s difficult to retain the title’
Arne Slot, Liverpool head coach, speaking on Thursday:
The reason why that is so difficult [to retain the title] lies mainly in the fact that there’s so many competitors that can also win the league over here. To win it once is already very special, let alone if you can win it twice in three, four or five years, or as we did, twice in five years and [Manchester] City did even better than us in the last few years.
So that’s unbelievable if you’re able to do this in this league. And probably this year is going to be harder than every year before, because every team brings in new players, but our main competitors definitely did as well.
On Bournemouth:
[They are] intense. They made it really difficult for us last season. A very good team, good manager and a challenge for us on Friday. But looking forward to it because an evening game at Anfield is something that everyone is looking forward to it.
Champions raise the curtain
Liverpool are back, but they look a little different.
The team that lifted the Premier League title three months ago has had a complete overhaul; many have left, and many have joined. This is truly Arne Slot’s Liverpool now.
It’s weird because you normally wouldn’t rip apart a title-winning team, and I have heard plenty of rival fans raise doubts over whether the new-look Reds will gel.
They weren’t fantastic against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield last week, sure, but boy were their new signings on fire during spells. Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, phoar, they did something to me that day that I can’t explain.
I, for one, am ridiculously excited to see them out on the turf again.
This is how it should be, the champions raising teh curtain on the new season.
How will they fare?
Start your engines…
Ready, get set, go!
The single greatest day of the footballing calendar is here, the opening day of the Premier League season. OK, OK, that may be going a step too far, but I just can’t contain my excitement.
Don’t get me wrong, I love pre-season, but come on… it doesn’t even scratch the itch that the absence of the top flight gives you.
Well, now it’s back, and it’s back with a bang.
Premier League champions Liverpool get things started as they start their title defence against Bournemouth at Anfield on this fine Friday evening.
We got a glimpse of what Arne Slot’s new-look Reds were about in the Community Shield last week, but now it’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is.
Now, sit back, relax, get yourself an ice-cold beverage of some sort, maybe even a cheeky snack, and let’s get what will be a rollercoaster of a season underway.
It’s lights out, and away we go.
